Decisions of Fate
by bikou-hokousha
Summary: He left in the midst of trouble... Will he return to save them or be the instrument of their destruction...
1. The Extinguishing of the Flame

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the characters therein. I do own any and all other

Characters.

Things to Know…

see Authors notes at end of chapter

**Bold** Kyubbified-Naruto speech

**_Bold Italics_** Kyubbi speech

Italics Thoughts 

( ) technique translation

A/N: Hello all. I know that I am a new author but I am pretty current with all the Japanese manga and anime, so I will try to keep this current until I have to deviate from the show for my fanfiction.

This story takes place during the sasuke retrieval mission, except that the mission takes place a day later then it actually does, so that Kakashi is already back and asleep when he learns of Sasuke appearance. Please remember this story is AU and does NOT have to follow the canon or anime at all. I just like to if I want. Please Read and Review, it keeps me happy.

Chapter 1:

The Extinguishing of the Flame 

"Rasengen!"

"Chidori!"

These cries rocked his dreams and seemed to promote a surreal feeling of impending death. For the life of him Kakashi could think of what the voices meant, but he was sure as hell going to find out. Rolling off his bed, he dressed quickly and set off at a fast and steady pace for the Hokage's Tower, which stood in the center of his hometown of Konoha, in the Fire Country. This Tower was the prefect picture of everything he thought his hometown to be. In the warm summer night air, the structure seemed to emanate a feeling of security and comfort. Reaching the building, he entered and made his way up to the Hokage's office and waited while the ANBU quietly announced his arrival to the still wide-eyed leader of the Hidden village of the Leaf. Receiving a nod from the bear-masked guard he entered and walked up to the Hokage's desk.

"Ah… Kakashi. You're just the person I wanted to see. Although I wished it could have been under a happier pretense.", Tsunade, Fifth Hokage said with a bit of regret leaking into her voice. Raising his only visible eyebrow, Kakashi decided to hold off on his own question and waited for her explanation. "Earlier today, I received a report about a certain missing-nin that we know. I was hesitant to say anything at first, but I promised Naruto that I would tell him as soon as I heard anything. So about an hour after reading the report myself I called him in and told him what I had read.", she said with pained expression on her face. Kakashi, for some odd reason knew without a doubt what Tsunade was about to tell him.

"Naruto left my office in a silent almost depressed state. He had demanded that I put a team together and go after the Uchiha. I declined and said that we didn't know how trustworthy the source was and that I wasn't about to send a team of ninja out only to die in an ambush. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my own thoughts, I would have noticed that he was unusually quiet. Which is a dead give away that something is wrong, especially with him", she added ruefully and almost…sadly. "It was about three hours ago that I thought I had better talk to him again and make sure that he is alright. I sent Shizune out to find him and she checked all the usual places but for the life of her she couldn't find him. So I have every reason to believe that Naruto took it upon his self to bring back Sasuke, and if I heard his promise right, then I know that he will do _anything_ to get him back… How could I have been so stupid?", she finished quietly before looking up to see what the great Copy-nin would say. She was slightly shocked to see his jounin's vest disappearing around the corner and into the antechamber. Praying silently, she asked every benevolent god that she could think of to spare the bright, enthusiastic blonde-haired boy that she had come to consider something of a son.

Outside the tower…

As soon as he had heard that they had been unable to find Naruto, Kakashi had turned and strode for the door knowing now what the voices had signified. Reaching the ground level, he nearly ran into his third and final teammate. Hurano Sakura, age 12, she was considered to be the brightest genin besides the lazy Shikamaru. The pink-haired Nin looked up and saw the worried tilt of his visible eye and knew immediately that something was _very _wrong. "What is it?", she asked wondering what would worry her teacher. All it took was one look and she knew that _he _had come back to her. Receiving a simple nod, she fell into step with her sensei and tried to think around the large lump that was rising in her throat. After a couple minutes of silence, she shook herself and looked around her and realized that they were at the main gate. Kakashi halted and opened one of the scroll pouches on his vest and withdrew a summoning scroll. Cutting his thumb on a kunai, he smeared the blood in a line down the text of the scroll and started forming hand seals while holding the scroll in the crooks of his thumbs. Reaching the end of the hand seals, Kakashi slammed his hand and the scroll into the ground and called out Kuchiyose No Jutsu (Summoning Technique). With a puff of smoke a small pack of dogs appeared and stood and waited for orders.

Sakura gasped in surprise, although she immediately recognized the dogs from the Sound and Sand attack. "My friends, I need you to find my student Naruto's scent and lead me to him. This is of the utmost importance.", Kakashi stated in a clipped voice, trying not to display his raging feelings. Nodding their heads, the pack of dogs at once set off in an ever-widening circle sniffing out Naruto's trail. It had been about ten minutes and Kakashi was just about to ask about the progress when Pakun, Kakashi's most frequently summoned companion appeared and told him that they had picked up on the boy's scent although it was rapidly growing faint. Nodding his head, he turned to his remaining teammate and looked into her emerald eyes and couldn't help but feel a little sad at the turmoil that was readily present in those eyes. "Sakura, I want you to stay here and wait for my return.", he said in what he hoped to be his gruffest voice. "B-b-but I have to come. I have to get Sasuke back.", she replied trying to act defiant. With the suddenness of a crack of lightning, Kakashi exploded. "IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT THIS IS HAPPENING. IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SO OBSESSED WITH SASUKE, YOU WOULD HAVE REALIZED WHAT YOU HAD DONE TO NARUTO WHEN YOU MADE HIM PROMISED TO DO _ANYTHING_ IN HIS POWER TO GET BACK SASUKE FOR **_YOU_**. YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING ELSE? THE ONLY REASON HE AGREED WAS SO THAT HE COULD MAKE YOU HAPPY.", he yelled, unleashing all his caged up anger and frustration at the naïve girl before him. What he didn't realize was that he was not only mad at her, he was also mad because the same thing had happened to him. Twisting around, he nodded to his summon and raced off with it in pursuit of his wayward student, leaving a stunned and confused Sakura in his wake.

Sakura POV…

Her mind was racing at top speed trying to figure out just what Kakashi had meant by what "she had done", when Naruto had promised to get back her Sasuke for her. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she headed off in the direction Kakashi had taken at her fastest speed hoping to staying close enough behind that she could follow him to where Naruto and Sasuke were.

Kakashi POV…

He was pushing himself to his limit and beyond trying to put as much speed on as he could while also not falling from the trees and breaking some bones. He couldn't stop thinking about what was probably happening right now, between probably the two most powerful genin he had ever seen. He knew that unless he got there, and got there fast he would probably be too late to stop them from killing each other. He silently prayed to Kami that he would.

He had been running for what seemed to be an eternity to him, when he looked around and noticed that he knew where he was. He was at the head of the famous Valley of the End. This was the place were the Shodaime had fought before building what was now Konoha, the Hidden Village of the Leaf. As he looked around he felt vibrations humming through the air, and as he turned to look further into the valley, he caught sight of two bright lights piercing the darkness in the distance. Instantly knowing what they were Kakashi raced off toward the two-chakra signatures and hoped that they would hold off until he got there.

Sakura POV…

She had followed her teacher at a steady pace and was just about to catch up to him, when he was off again. Stopping almost exactly where he had, she took stock of her surroundings and realized just as Kakashi had that she was at the Valley of the End, one of the most famous placed in all of Konoha history. Looking toward the center of the Valley, she saw the lights and knew that they were what had been what Kakashi had leapt off after. Following her teacher at an ever-closing pace, she reached his side and almost fainted at the sight that greeted her eyes.

Normal POV…

To a normal person the sight before them would have made them sick or even faint. Two children stood facing one another, both dripping blood from their many cuts and wounds. They had been fighting for the better part of two hours and both were exhausted. The raven-haired boy seemed to be the less wounded of the two, except that if was very hard to tell because of the amount of malicious purple and black chakra that was rippling around his haggard body. His opponent seemed to be near death's black door, although that wasn't the most astonishing thing about this particular boy. This boy was completely encased in scarlet-red chakra that fairly oozed hate and killing intent. If you had been standing in front of the boy you would have noticed the feral-look that his features had taken. The telltale whisker-like birthmarks had lengthened and deepened and his eyes, they were the color of blood and they had slits like a cats. His fingernails seemed to have grown stiff and sharpen in to claws and his canine's elongated and sharpened to points. Both boys were obviously having trouble sustaining the amount of energy they were outputting and at any moment either one was likely to fall face first to the ground and not rise again for a good long time. Both were unaware that they were now being observed for the tree line.

"**Hey, Sasuke-teme! Why don't you just come back? People would forgive you. They want _you back_. "**, the blonde haired youth fairly growled out, in a voice that seemed to have trouble making human words, although it seemed to contain a hint of sadness.

Without answering the other boy, Sasuke began making hand-seals to charge up his best technique: the Chidori. Following his example, Naruto began to swirl chakra into a ball in the palm of his hand. While he did this, a part of Naruto consciousness detached itself and extended outward from the body. As it reached the tree line, it touched the minds of both Kakashi and Sakura. It immediately withdrew back into the body to report its findings. Swiveling his eyes to look at where his teammates where standing, he continued to gather chakra and after a few moments he resumed his steady gaze at his opponent and one-time rival and friend.

Tsunade POV (about 1 hour ago)…

After Kakashi had left, she had called together all of the Rookie Nine and their teachers in an effort to send more back up to Kakashi just in case it was a trap. Right now she was briefing them on the situation. "About 3 hours ago, I received a report from an intelligence source that Uchiha Sasuke would be at the Valley of the End. Per a promise that I made, I called in Naruto and told him what I knew and didn't take into account just who I was talking to. Most likely as soon as he left my office, with my denial to put a team together and retrieve Sasuke, he went out himself alone to do the very thing that I had denied. About two hours after he left I sent out Shizune to try to bring him back here so I could talk to him, but to my surprise, Shizune returned with word that he was no where to be found. At that time, Kakashi showed but as if by providence. I explained the situation to him and he immediately set out to retrieve his student. Now the reason you all are here is that I have reason to believe that Kakashi is headed into a trap with both Naruto and Sasuke as bait. I need all of you to proceed with all possible speed to the valley and offer any help you can to Kakashi.", she stated as clearly and quickly as possible. She had a feeling that she needed to get help out there and fast.

Silence reigned around the people gathered about her desk. Looking around, Asuma voiced what they all needed to hear. "So…When do we leave?" "Right now.", she replied and was rewarded with the swiftest evacuation of her office that she had ever seen. Turning to her window, she looked out of the window at the wakening city and hoped the she wasn't to late.

Valley POV (thirty minutes ago)…

They had been traveling at break neck pace and yet to Rookie Nine and their teachers it seemed as if they were moving at a snail pace. Unbeknownst to each other, both Hinata and her teacher Kurenai were thinking about what would happen and what they would see when they reached the valley. Neji and Shikamaru, who had been running in front of the party as scouts, dropped to the ground and signaled the others to follow them. Turning to the Jounins in the group, Shika explained his plan. "Tsunade-sama said that the intelligence we had received would most likely be a trap. If that is the case then I feel then that we should split up and scout out the surrounding land to make sure that there is no one else here."

Asuma looked at the youth and couldn't help but have a small grin pass his lips at the sight of 12 year-old boy thinking far better then some Jounin that he knew would. Nodding his head, he held up two fingers and pointed them to Tenten and Hinata and made a walking motion with his fingers, signaling them that he wanted them as a roving patrol. Turning to Lee and Neji, he pointed off to the left. Pointing to the right, he sent Chouji and Kiba off to scout out the side of the valley. Turning to the last member of the nine surviving rookies, he jabbed his thumb into his chest and then pointed to Kurenai and himself, saying that he wanted Ino to come with them. As they all dispersed, they each caught the tremor that seemed to be coming from deeper into the valley. Where as tremors were not an uncommon event in the village, the size and strength of the ones that were emanating from the valley were, and they were only growing stronger.

Catching the eyes of all the different group members, he saw a hint of anxiety in almost all of them. Few people seemed grasp the situation and understand that panicking would not solve anything; the most surprising one in that group was Hinata. When he looked into her eyes he saw sheer determination flashing back at him. Shaking his head, he mouthed 'Be Careful' and continued on his way.

Normal POV (present time)…

Kakashi was so entranced by the power that was flowing from his old students that he almost missed the sign that someone was sneaking up on him. Flashing around, he threw a kunai directly at the target and barely missed giving Asuma a nose job, although he did succeed in making the man's cigarette a little bit short. Standing up, Asuma gave Kakashi a reproachful look before turning to look into the clearing that was being occupied by the battling combatants. He raised an eyebrow in Kakashi's direction, not because he was surprised at the power they were displaying although that was troubling him. It was the fact that Naruto, the Kyubbi no Kitsune's carrier, seemed to have lost control. Kakashi shook his head and returned to planning out a way to get down into the valley from where he was. Kakashi along with the all the other ninja Tsunade had sent out were standing on a sheer cliff with a drop of more then 60 feet down.

Shikamaru, standing on the cliff, saw only one way down and one way only. Turning to his teachers, he simply said, "Use Kawarimi no jutsu just before you hit the trees. After you hit the ground, you should be able to throw a kunai back up to us so that the rest of can descend." Looking at Shika with an appraising gaze, Kakashi realized that the _just_ might be a genius. Nodding his head and not wishing to waste time with talking, Kakashi moved to the edge of the cliff and was about to jump when Kurenai grabbed his arm and gave him a pleading look. "Don't do it Kakashi. You might die and then what will we do…what will I do?", she added in a whisper. "You care what I do now WHY?"; Kakashi growled and wrenched his arm free of her grasp. Turning he moved back a couple paces before running and leaping off the edge, never even taking the time to truly think his actions through. As he fell, Kakashi realized that the wind from his fall was making it hard to form a hand seals, at this point the first shreds of hear began to make themselves known in his mind. He looked down and watched as the mass of green death extended itself up to meet him and a cold hard embrace of death.

On the Cliff…

Kurenai watched as Kakashi jumped and most certainly fell to his death. Rushing to the edge, she looked down just in time to see Kakashi's distant form disappear in a cloud of smoke. Waiting with baited breath, she listened for even the slightest hint of a kunai cutting the air toward her group. Almost the same instant a kunai flashed by her right cheek and imbedded itself up to the hilt in a large oak tree. Sighing with relief, she turned and saw everyone already lining up to descend. Going to the back of the line, she come down on her turn and took in the surroundings that were at the bottom of the glade that they had come down into. You could hear the roar and rumble of a not to distant waterfall and hear the calming laughter of the small brook that drifted by the northern edges trees. Turning to Kakashi, who as if by unanimous vote had become the leader of this mission, she waited for her orders. "Fan out, same groups as before. Make sure that there are no other threats here. Once you have made sure that there is no other enemies here, I want you to move as close to the battle as you can.", Kakashi rasped out quietly, his one visible eye glaring down on them all. Nodding their assent, they broke apart and headed in their assign directions. It was no more then an hour later when the two raging chakra-covered figures were surrounded by ninjas.

Normal POV…

Sasuke was amazed, despite his thoughts, Naruto hadn't done or said anything stupid. In fact, you could have said that he was actually acting….smart. Neither of them had said nor done anything since Naruto's last attempt to persuade Sasuke. Both combatants gazed steadily at each other, waiting for an opening that would end this battle.

Naruto on the other hand was barely paying any attention to his old rival, he was to busy finding all of the friends. He thought he had found them all…until his demonically enhanced gaze fell on Sakura, his fierce cat-like eyes softened as he looked at her. It seemed like an eternity while he gazed at her and wondered how different his life would have been if she had like him instead of that bastard Sasuke. Smiling ruefully, he forgot that Sasuke was watching his every move.

Sasuke had no idea what the blonde idiot thought was funny but as far as he knew, he was the only living thing within miles. His raging flared up at the thought that Naruto would laugh while fighting him. "I don't know what your laughing at dobe, but you wont be doing it much longer.", he shouted, his face a mask of pure fury. Launching himself forwarded his extended his blazing arm forward, aiming for Naruto's heart. Hearing the shout, Naruto saw Sasuke rushing toward him and thought of only one thing before springing forward to meet his opponent head-on: "This is for _you_ Sakura."

Their powers meet each other in a blaze of blue and red energy, and continued to flare up as each fighter strove to gain the advantage. Just before he would have broken through Sasuke's attack, his own failed. Naruto watched as his friends arm ripped its way into his chest and tore his insides apart. Their bodies smashed into each other and drove Sasuke's arm even further into Naruto's body, and with a sick ripping sound; Sasuke's arm burst through Naruto's back. The onlookers were horrified by the sight of a grisly, blood-covered fist clenching and unclenching through a hole in their friend's chest.

Sasuke POV…

He was stunned. 'Why didn't he block my attack? Why didn't he stop me?', these thoughts and others whirled around his head in an ever-intensifying buzz. With a sudden jerk, he felt his body return to solid ground. Looking down his arm to where it connected to his friend, he saw the life slowly ebbing away from his ocean blue eyes. Thinking quickly, Sasuke set himself and proceeded to pull his arm from the wound that it had made. With a scream of utter pain, Naruto cried out and slumped against the limb that was plunged inside of him. Fighting back his tears, Sasuke pulled his arm out all the way and heard Naruto whimper. Catching the blonde before he hit he ground, Sasuke lowered him to the ground with the returning to normal boy's head in his lap. "Why did you do it? Why didn't you stop me?", he whispered, his voice cracking. He jerked when he felt a hand reach up and touch his face. "I did it for her, and because I promised and I always keep my promises, its my nindo. Just promise me one thing…Promise me that you'll return to Konoha, even if its only for awhile.", Naruto sighed, his voice steady but laced with his pain. Nodding his head silently, Sasuke tried to fight off his grief but failed miserably, and as he fell into the pit that was his grief, he saw a small grace his friend's lips.

So deep was Sasuke in his grief, he didn't even notice the approach of the other people until they were almost upon him. Twisting his head around with his Sharingan blazing, he saw all the people that he had thought to never see again; all because of his selfish need to destroy his brother. He watched in grief-stricken silence as the majority of the group stopped a few dozen paces away, while Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma approach further, but even they too stopped before allowing Kakashi to continue on alone.

Kakashi's face, what was visible of it, was a completely blank mask. Sasuke watched as he neared and stopped a couple paces away. He looked up at his old teacher and silently pleaded with him to help him. Kakashi continued to look one of the two remaining Uchiha with a blank expression, although he did jump when he heard a rasping croak come from the blonde haired boy that was being cradled in the other boys' lap. Moving and crouching next to the wounded boy's side, he watched as Naruto struggled to form words. "D-don't…blame…him", Naruto whispered as his energy vanishing. "Stop talking, you'll need the energy to help heal yourself.", he replied in a strangled voice, trying his best to sound comforting. Grinning with his same trademark grin, Naruto burst into a fit of coughing.

Kakashi heard the sound of approaching footsteps and turned to see Sakura standing a short distance away, wringing her hands wanting to see what was happening but unable to make herself move any closer. Catching her teacher's eye, she took courage from him and stepped forward and cried out at the sight that met her emerald gaze. Sasuke was covered in blood, some his own, but most from the small orange-clothed figure that lay in his lap. Reigning in her instinct to run away, she knelt down on the boy's other side and sobbed quietly when she saw his face. The face that she had known to never have a sad look about it, the same face that she had taken for granted would always be there. With a cry, she flung her body against his and cried, releasing all the grief and frustration that had been locked up inside her.

"Kakashi-sensei?", Naruto croaked over the girl's sobs. "Yes, Naruto?", his teacher replied. "Take them away from here. This is not how I want anyone to remember me.", he pleaded, pushing all of his love for the weeping girl and the silent boy into voice. Nodding in acknowledgement, he waved Kurenai forward and watched as the red-eyed woman pulled the dying boys teammates away. "Naruto, stop wasting your energy.", Kakashi reprimanded lightly. "You need to stay with us until we can get you back to the village so Tsunade can fix you up.", he ordered trying to keep the boy awake by using whatever discipline that the child might have to his advantage.

Releasing a gurgling sigh, Naruto looked at his teacher's eye and smiled. Kakashi, knowing exactly what to do, reached up and removed his mask from both his eye and his lower face. Naruto looked at him and nodded before closing his eyes and seeming to cease moving. Noticing the change in the boys body, Kakashi leaned forward and felt for a pulse, receiving confirmation that the boy wasn't gone yet, getting into a couching position, he reached under the boy's body and heaved. He noticed the difference in the boy's weight immediately. Becoming increasingly worried he signaled to the group and with that they all formed a box around him and Sasuke before launching themselves into the trees and speeding toward the village. Looking to the jounins in the group, he nodded and watched as they sped up in an attempt to get to the village before his group and gather the essential people. Twisting his head the other way, he nodded again and watched as the other members of the rookie nin formed a guard around the silent, unseeing Sasuke.

Looking down at the small nearly weightless form in his hands, his thought about all the times that he had seen this boy get smashed by an annoyed Sakura or fall down from exhaustion after training to hard. Shaking his head, he silently renewed his prayer to Kami, hoping against hope that he wasn't to late.

Inside Naruto POV…

Kyubbi no Kitsune, Lord of the Demons, was at a loss for words. _This sack of human trash had sacrificed himself just so that some woman could be happy._ He couldn't think of any valid reason for the human to do that and yet he had. Suddenly he figured it out, and with a laugh he crouched down near the front of the gate and looked at the dying boy that was lying there. "**_You know… As much as I would love to kill you for keeping me locked up in here, I have to say that I'm starting to understand why you do what you do.", he said with a smug look on his furry face._**

"It doesn't matter anymore, you burnt furball. I'm dead or atleast I'm dying and I also know that you cant heal a wound like mine, or rather you could but it would kill me anyway.", Naruto replied calmly. "But tell me, Why do you think that I risk everything to keep my loved ones safe?", he added.

**_"You do it to show that you are not what everyone thinks you are, which is a demon,", he said, "Thanks to me.", he added quietly._**

"Well seeing as we're both going to die here, why don't you tell me why you attack Konoha in the first place.", Naruto asked remembering the last time he asked that same question. What he didn't expect was Kyubbi's answer.

**_"I don't really remember why I did it. All I remember is a lot of anger from something that your people did and that I wanted revenge for it."_**, chuckling slightly, "**_It's part of the reason why I wanted to get out of here so bad. I wanted to find out what happened and whether or not it was worth doing what I did, and now that I think about it with a clear mind, I can see why your great Yondaime sealed me away. I wasn't from the fact that he was to weak to kill me, it was from the knowledge that I didn't know what I was doing and wasn't my fault that I was doing it, although I can say that I remember that it was something or someone I'd cared about that was in trouble, and yes I CAN care."_**, he explained in a calm-voice. Naruto, who had been looking at Kyubbi this entire time, watched as the fiercely flashing flames that surrounded the fox calmed. All at once, the fierce beauty of the creature that stood before him stunned Naruto.

Reaching through the bars of the cage with a tail, Kyubbi lowered it over the boy and softly brushed it over him. Sighing at the warm feeling the tail was giving him, Naruto noticed an odd feeling running through him. Looking at his body from the inside, he noticed a vast difference in his chakra system. Normally his blue chakra would flow like normal, only every once in a while some of Kyubbi's demonic chakra would get released and would flash through his veins. Now his chakra was white and as far as he could see, there was no sign of the demonic chakra that was normally present. Turning to the fox, he saw the demon with a grin plastered over his muzzle. "What's going on?", he asked quizzically, not really caring what Kyubbi said. "Our chakra's have ceased to repel each other. In fact, it seems that they are mixing to form this new chakra.", Kyubbi guessed, using the knowledge of his centuries of existence to his advantage.

Thinking about it, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and returned to gazing up into the ink black roof of the Kyubbi's prison. As he gazed, he sensed that the different chakra wasn't what was giving him the funny feeling from before. Reaching out with his mind, as he could do now that he has in his own mind, Naruto felt a small river of chakra flowing into his eyes, one that he hadn't noticed before. Following it, he realized that it was feeding a reservoir for his eyes. Struggling to get enough energy to open his eyes, he opened them and almost cried out in wonder, if not for his lack of energy. He could see chakra, not just its pathways, but the source of it all as well. Using the last of his energy to shift his gaze, he looked at Kakashi, wanting to see how another person looked. With his new vision, he noticed that there was a blockage of chakra to his teacher's eye that was so minute that it was barely detectable; but as he thought about it, he realized that it was probably enough to make Kakashi unable to control the Sharingan eye. Without pausing to think, Naruto sent a spike of his new chakra straight into the blockage (A/N: Not a Tenketsu) and watched as it slowly unraveled and increased the chakra flow to the eye. Smiling with satisfaction, he released his hold on life without further thought.

Kakashi POV…

Kakashi had been looking at the boy, when he had opened his eyes and looked at him with an oddly comforting black and green gaze. He was just about to say something when he felt a stab of pain in his eye and then sudden clarity in his Sharingan eye. Noticing the increase in chakra that was being pushed into his eye, he tried to lessen the chakra input into that eye, something that he had been unable to do since he lost his real one and had it replaced his dead teammates Sharingan. He was amazed to find that he could control his eye. Returning the flow to the flow to that of his other eye, he immediately noticed the difference. The world that he saw out of his left eye had stopped shifting with all the possible movements and had returned to the normal static view. Tears springing into his now normal eyes, he looked down and saw Naruto slip into a coma. Cursing silently, he increased his speed and left the others behind. He was positive the Naruto had been the one that returned his eyes to normal and he wouldn't let that gift go unrepaid.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Please read and review….Its what keeps me running and makes me happy. This story will have no Yaoi or Yuri, not that I have anything against them, but I just don't write it. If you don't like that then don't continue to read this story. Pairing are still pretty loose right now so if you have one that you would really like to see then send it in a review and I'll see if I can make it work.


	2. Awashed with Memories

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Naruto © ™ characters. I do own all other original Characters.

A/N: I'm sorry to say that this chapter will contain many different flashbacks from multiple people. Although it maybe straining to read I assure you that they are necessary to further the story line and do a-bit of other things that need to be started early. Thank you for continuing to read this fic. Don't forget to Read & Review, as it is the only way for me to fix things you don't like or keep doing the things you do...and because it makes me feel happy inside…. Ja Ne.

Things to know…

See Authors notes at end of chapter

**Bold** Kyubbified-Naruto speech

**_Bold Italics_** Kyubbi speech

Italics Thoughts/ flashbacks 

() Technique translation

Flashback sequence flashback

POV P.oint O.f V.iew

Chapter 2:

Awashed with Memories 

They all sat in the sterile, white room and waited for any news of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy that had been rushed into the waiting arms of Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage and the greatest medical-nin in the world. For each person in the room, the situation represented itself to them in different ways. To those closest to Naruto like Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, they felt a great weight of grief and frustration flattening them against their seats. The other jounins and Rookie Nine felt a lesser amount of this. Each one prayed silently for their friend to make it back to them.

Sakura POV…

Sakura, who was trying to put the day's events into place, couldn't figure out why Naruto would go to such lengths for her, especially after she had been so mean to him.

Flashback

_"Hey, Sasuke! Want to go out to lunch with me?", she had asked excitedly, although she already knew the answer._

_"No. I have to train.", he replied, always in the same manner. Pouting slightly, she watched as he walked away and was turning away, when Naruto appeared in front of her and said "I'll go out to lunch with you Sakura-chan.", he exclaimed loudly. Raising up her fist, she brought it down hard on his head and said, "Who would ever do anything with you?", before walking away without another thought about what she had just said. This same scene had happened time after time and soon became something of a routine to her; he would ask and she would hit him and tell him off and then walk away._

End Flashback

She had never stopped to wonder about how he felt about what she did to him, or even what it might actually be like to do something with him. Sobbing quietly, she vowed to be nicer to him, not matter how hard it would be. Shifting her attention, she thought about the reason that this night had even come about. Uchiha Sasuke, surrounded by a squad of ANBU, sat in a corner and seemed to stare off into nothingness. She let her gaze rove of his body as she had used to do so long ago. As she looked, she realized that he had lost the…spark… that had drawn her to him. He seemed so lifeless, with his hunched shoulders and his knees drawn up against his chest. Turning her head, she searched for her sensei and gasped in surprise at the sight of him without his face almost completely covered by a mask. She looked upon his face fully now and wondered why he had ever covered it up. His face was not extraordinarily handsome, nor was it ugly and disfigured by scars. In fact the single scar that ran vertical down his left eye only seemed to enhance his rugged appearance. The one thing that she had always wondered was that if he had control over his left eye; what color would it be? Now she saw that they match flawlessly in every aspect. Seeing him looking at her, she gave a small smile and gave a discreet point to his face. Smirking in that way that she had always imagined him to, he nodded and returned his steady gaze to the door that lead to the infirmary.

Sasuke POV (same time as Sakura's own musings)…

He sat quietly, traumatized by the fact that he had probably just killed his teammate, rival, and probably his best friend. He looked out from cold, unseeing eyes and gazed over the assembled people that had gathered and waited anxiously for any news of their friend. Feeling the twitch of that sixth sense that told you that you were being watched, he turned his head and saw Sakura gazing at him. He quickly turned away, not wanting to see the blame that was surely to be there.

As he sat, he thought back on his life, and the reason that he had almost killed his friend.

Flashback

_He walked into the main building of his clans' housing area and almost puked at the sight that glared back at him. He saw members of his family lying in a pool of their blood with faces set in mixed expression of utter surprise and pain. As he moved down toward his parents' room, he saw more bodies each with the same expression on their face, and somehow he knew that he would like what he saw in his parents rooms._

_Noticing a shadow through the shoji panels, he threw them wide and revealed the horrible creature that had done this to his family. Uchiha Itachi, stood in the center of the room, framed by moonlight. He turned to see his little brother Sasuke standing in the doorway staring at his bloodstained hands. "I had to do it, Sasuke.", he said in a calm, neutral voice before turning and taking past the child and leaving the village forever._

End Flashback

'I vowed that I would destroy me brother no matter the cost', he thought to himself, his face unconsciously betraying his emotions for all to see. 'Now I know just how foolish I was when I uttered those despicable words and sealed my own fate.', he continued to berate himself over everything he could think of that he had ever done wrong. He was so stupid in his own grief and self-pity that he failed to notice the curse seal that adorned his left shoulder was slowly fading from his skin, although if you looked close enough, you would see that it had only faded and not disappeared.

Slowly raising his eyes, he looked out upon the gathered people and knew some of them surely hated him, only Kakashi seemed to acknowledge his existence. Swiveling his onyx-black eyes around, he gazed out at Sakura and saw that she too was lost in her own thoughts. Looking up further, he looked at the backs of his ANBU guards and wondered how many of them wanted to see him dead rather then having to guard him. Leaning back in the chair, he closed his eyes and let his mind drift where it wanted, something that he had not done for a very long time.

Kakashi POV (same time as the other's musings)…

Kakashi thought about the special gift that Naruto had bestowed upon him, and for the very life of him, the great Copy-Nin couldn't find a reason for Naruto to do that for him. For as long as he had known that he was going to teach the boy, he had almost completely ignored the boy, expect for when they were in front of other people. The more he thought about it, he realized that he had never actually done anything specifically for the boy. He thought about the day that he was told who his team would consist of. He hadn't cared one way or the other for Sakura, and when he had heard that he was to teach on of the last Uchiha, he had taken it as a chance to repay old debts. But when he heard Saratobi say that he would be teaching Uzumaki Naruto, he had practically yelled out 'WHAT?!??!?' He had asked for a reason why he should teach the one that had killed his sensei, why he should have to teach the Kyubbi?

To those words, Saratobi had said, "Kakashi, are you one to believe that HE is the Kyubbi? You know as well as I that if anything he is the exact opposite to anything that the Kyubbi represents. Your teacher sealed the demon away into that poor boy without his say in the matter. He should be considered a hero for what he does every day for us. If keeping the beast at bay is something that is to be considered a monstrous, then I think that we deserved everything that the demon did to us."

Bowing, he turned and left the office and returned to his apartment. He had sat and meditated on whether or not to even show up to accept his team. After almost three hours of debating with himself, he got up and headed up to the school to retrieve his team. If not for the presence of Sasuke on the team, he probably wouldn't have shown up at all. At the time, he had no idea the abilities each of his students would possess. Even during the wave country mission, his first thought at the appearance of Kyubbi's chakra was that the monster was returning to his true ways. He had been amazed at the fact that Naruto had controlled the demon's chakra and even used it in a fight, that only made him even more wary to what Naruto was capable of. After that mission the Chunnin exams had started and again, he had done nothing to help Naruto prepare for the fights. He had dumped the boy off on Ebisu, and although he was a Jounin, he was not very adept at anything save babysitting. He had been surprised by the fact that the boy had been able impress the great Frog Sannin, Jiraiya. What had surprised him the most was the events that had happened this very night. Naruto had shown that not only was he not the demon that almost everyone thought him to be, but he was also so self-sacrificing, no matter what the villagers had done to him. He was constantly doing his best; for the village, his friends and loved ones, and himself.

Now with the time to reflect on everything that had happened during his time with Team 7, Kakashi was startled, to put it bluntly, to see just how truly blind he had been, even with his famed Sharingan eye. Turning his now normal and uncovered eyes out to look over the waiting room, he wondered just how much the golden-haired youth had changed them all. He wondered just how much the loud-mouthed, brat had done for each of them. Looking to his left, he saw his other students and knew that they were doing exactly what he was; remembering the good and bad times and seeing as if for the first time just what they had missed because of their short-sightedness.

'I promise Naruto, from now tell I die, I won't ever forget about you, but if you die now, just when we all realize just how much you mean to us all, then I won't ever forgive you. ', he promised silently, small tears shimmering in his eyes, as he repeatedly renewed his prayer to Kami to not take Naruto's life.

Hinata POV…

For as long as she could remember, she had liked Uzumaki Naruto. She knew that he didn't have the dashing good looks that some people looked for, or the brainpower of Shikamaru, but what he did have was love for his friends and a determination that seemed to melt all the obstacles in his path of life.

She admired his ability to make everyone feel as if they could do anything, to make even the most trivial thing like eating together a time to remember. She wished that she could be more like him; to be stronger, be someone that everyone could depend on to finish what he started and still have time to truly care about what happened to his friends. The one thing that she truly wished was for him to see her as she sees him. For him to love her like he loved Sakura, but she knew that he wouldn't. One of her fondest memories of him was when he promised to avenge her on her cousin Neji.

Flashback

_It was during the Chunnin exams, preliminary round, when she and her cousin had been called on to fight each other in a one-on-one. To say the least, she was beaten badly and nearly killed by her destiny obsessed cousin. At seeing her lying in a small pool of her own blood, unconscious, Naruto had made a blood promise to make Neji pay for what he had done to her. When she had learned of his promise, she had nearly cried for joy that he had done such a thing for her._

_Later in the exams, Neji certainly did pay for his mistake and barely escaped with his life, after being surprised by the fact that Naruto had survived having all his tenketsu points closed by his Jyukken blows. She had realized then that he would do anything to make his precious people happy, even if it meant dying in the process._

End Flashback

As she sat, absorbed in her own thoughts, she failed to notice the expressions of the other people around her, and the looks of understanding and/or guilt that ran across them. Unwittingly following Kakashi's example, she offered up a prayer to Kami, that if he was to grant anything she asked let it be that Naruto live to see another day.

Normal POV…

Another hour had passed as the gathered people thought their own private thoughts, as the gazed at the door leading to the surgery room. Not a single person took their eyes off the door so see who the newcomer was that had just walked into the room.

Jiraiya, the great Frog Hermit and one of the Legendary Sannin, stood by the doors and looked about the room and could almost feel the raw emotions that washed out of the people. He looked toward the door that seemed to have hypnotized the whole room before sitting in one of the empty chairs by the door. He had come not only because Tsunade had asked him to come, but also to see the bright-eyed boy that had captured his attention when he had set a pack of pissed off women to chase him away from his latest 'research project'. When he had recovered sufficiently from his wounds and returned to the bathhouse to seek out the boy, he found him in the company of an incompetent fool. Sending Ebisu on his way, he took charge of Naruto's training for the one month that they were allowed for the main rounds of the Chunnin exams. It was during that time that he had found out just what had bothered him when he had first seen the boy. He was the spitting image of the great Yondaime, the fourth Hokage, and the sealer of Kyubbi No Kitsune, the Nine-tailed fox demon. Pushing those thoughts aside, he decided that he had better do what he had come to do before Tsunade made him into a flesh-colored nail.

Getting up and moving to the surgery doors, he heard a collective intake of breath from the rooms' occupants. Resisting the urge to turn around and do something to ease their tension, he pushed the doors opened and quickly closed them behind him, closing off all view of the operation that was happening inside.

Inside the Surgery room…

The glaring lights, blasted down on the metal table over which a extremely tired blonde-haired woman worked, surrounded by equally harried looking assistance's busied themselves. Striding to an empty spot at Tsunade's back, he laid a hand gently on her shoulder, and started to slowly trickle some his chakra into her. Throwing quick, wordless thanks to him over her shoulder, she redoubled her efforts and finally was able to close a massive wound that had covered Naruto's lower abdomen. Sighing in relief, she motioned for the nurses to do their job and moved away from the table and stripping off her gloves. Gesturing for Jiraiya to accompany her, she moved off to a quieter corner of the room and started to explain why she had called him here.

"Jiraiya, you know who this boy is, yes?", she asked making sure that he did indeed recognize the boy. Receiving his affirmative, she took a breath to steady her nerves and said, "I called you here not just to lend my your chakra, which I appreciate greatly by the way, I summoned you so that you can look at _the_ seal. I have seen what it's supposed to look like and I can tell you now that I don't look like it should, in fact if my eyes aren't deceiving me, then its still changing. I don't know how this is possible, but it is happening and I thought that you should take a look at it before something untoward happens.", she explained carefully, trying to keep the fatigue that she was obviously feeling from showing on her face. Nodding his white-haired head, Jiraiya's entire demeanor changed in an instant, going from the laid back person, to the greatest seal master yet lived. Moving over to the boy and gently moving the nurses away from the stomach area, he moved the sheet that covered that portion of the body and examined the seal that he had helped research.

The first thing he noticed was that the seal that he had before him looked nothing like it should. In fact, it seemed to be missing several very important parts. Looking over to Tsunade, he saw her pop a soldier pill into her mouth and turn toward the upper body where most of the nurses were already clustered. Following her example, he set about trying to figure out what was happening to the seal, or what was changing the seal.

Inside Naruto's mind…

Naruto was still dumbfounded at the sight that he had beheld before he had used up all the energy he had left and fainted. The sight of the world in such a colorful spectrum would have brought tears to his eyes, if he had the energy. All the while that the Hokage and the others were working on him, his single most thought had not been for his own health or current situation, but of the boy that he had just fought and how they were treating him. He hoped that they had taken his request seriously for once, he really didn't think that Sasuke was responsible for his actions, in fact he knew that for a what it was…a fact. Thinking back to what the now snow white fox had said, he asked, "Kyubbi, what do you think will happen now that our chakras have mixed, I mean if we survive that is."

Smirking at the boy's obvious attempt to not betray his feelings, Kyubbi said quite plainly, "**_I don't know…_**", without any sarcasm or inflections in his voice. Seeing that the boy had accepted the answer, he returned to his study of this new chakra. For all the long centuries that he had been alive, he had never encountered such as this. It seemed to flow and move like regular chakra and yet how could it when it was made of two completely different ones. Shifting his attention to the boy's tenketsu, he examined them for and changes or oddities and discovered that some how they had become a sort of hybrid. They could regulate this new chakra, this combination of human and demon, and still function like normal. He was immensely curious as to see what side effects they mixture would have, if any, he just hoped that they survived to find out.

Having found out all that he wanted to know, for now, he put his efforts once again to trying to see what was happening to his kit's body, but for all of his knowledge and experience he couldn't figure out anything. Laying down to wait, he felt a slight tug where, if he had a body, his heart was and with a snarl, he was dragged to his feet and thrown against the bars of his prison.

Outside the bars, Naruto cried out in pain and withered on the ground clutching his stomach where the seal was on his real body. Forcing one of his eyes open, he looked over to his eternal inhabitant and saw a look in his eyes and would scare anything or anyone. Kyubbi's eyes were rolling around in their sockets and he was half way groaning and halfway laughing, the very sound would make anyone's blood run cold. Raising himself onto his side, Naruto called out to the fox with worry and concern lacing every letter in his words , "Kyubbi, are you all right? What's happening to us?"

Gasping with the exertion, Kyubbi managed to grunt out, "**_The seal…it's the seal. When our chakra fused the seal must have begun to disappear and your friends are trying to fix it to keep me from escaping…not that I would now that I have such a good kit._**", he added with as much pride as the pain would let him.

Naruto's face broke out into a smile at this point, a smile that very few people had ever seen. "I wish I had some way to tell them that it was alright.", he said as a new surge of pain slammed into him. "_Maybe we do…_", he said and with a great effort, he sent a giant surge of the new chakra barreling at Naruto's major tenketsus and as they were sent toward the wounded areas. Grinning with satisfaction, Kyubbi watched as his gamble paid off.

Outside Naruto's body in the surgery room…

Tsunade, Jiraiya and the nurses had all jumped back from the unconscious boy that was on the table in front of them. They saw a pearly white energy blaze up to ring the wounded areas and with almost no pause, the chakra began to close the wounds, just as Kyubbi's re demon chakra had done before. What Kyubbi didn't know was that when he had forced so much chakra passed the tenketsu he had also opened the Gate of Pain, and with that came the mental pain that Naruto had long been subconsciously been shutting up in there. With a howl of animal qualities, the blonde haired boy jerked up straight and dropped off the table before facing the rooms' occupants. Giving each a wild look in turn, the boy suddenly shot through doors that laid to the waiting room and into the confused faces of those sitting within.

Waiting Room (moments before)…

Each of the ninja had been total engrossed in their own thoughts, since their arrival in the room save the time when Jiraiya had gone into the surgical room. They were so lost in thought that they didn't hear the commotion that Naruto's sudden liveliness had caused and were only shocked out of their trance when the doors opened and a pink and orange flash flew out. Jerking their collective heads back to the doors, they all watched as the doors were once more violently thrown open and peered closer as Tsunade and Jiraiya followed by the nurses rushed out in hot pursuit of the runaway boy.

Kakashi jumped to his feet and gave Jiraiya a questioning look. "I'll explain but later, right now we need to get Naruto back." Nodding his head, Kakashi motioned and the rest of the team rushed out with him, save for Sasuke, who was being restrained by the masked ANBU. Digging into a pouch Kakashi produced, for the second time that day, a summoning scroll. Repeating the same technique as he did last time, the others watched as a dog puffed into existence. "I need your help to find Naruto…again. He left quite fast." Nodding his head, Pakun sniffed the air and headed off at a fast clip so not to lose the others as he was sure that Kakashi could keep up with him.

It took them the better part of an hour to reach a clearing where they heard heavy breathing clearly despite the foliage that blocked their senses. Fanning out in a line formation, they moved closer as quietly as they could but as with all times when supreme silence is needed, one of the ninja's cracked a tree branch beneath their sandal. With a lunge, the party popped out of the tree line and surrounded the harried looking boy. They watched as he spun around erratically as he searched for a way out. Not seeing any viable route of escape, the boy settled back onto his haunches and seemed to calm down.

Sakura stepped forward toward the boy, determined to keep her vow and not repeat her past mistakes. They all watched as Naruto swung around to keep her in front of him. What happened next, they never expected to happen…at least not from him. He leapt forward with a snarl and grabbed Sakura by the neck, and with a heave pinned to the ground with the same motion. Scared and worried, Sakura gasped out around his throttling grip, "Naruto calm down. We don't want to hurt you."

Cocking his head to the side, he looked at her quizzically, but all the while he kept the crushing pressure on her windpipe. He might have let her go after a time, but just as he was about to Jiraiya dived for him and forced him to release his hold and jump out the way. Snarling , Naruto dived through the hole in the ring and raced off faster then they thought possible. Leaping after the fleeing boy, they raced off in the direction that he was headed, but stopped when Pakun dropped to the forest floor and started frantically sniffing the air, searching for something. Letting his head hang down and putting his tail between his legs, Pakun looked up to Kakashi and slowly shook his head. Keeping his face expressionless, he nodded and watched the summon puff out. Turning to the group, he saw the same expression flash across each of their faces. Slowly he turned and started heading back to the village and knew that the others would follow on their own accord.

Naruto's Mindscape…

Kyubbi was yelling at the blonde that was laying in front of his cage. He was yelling to try to get the boy to stop and listen and let the others take him back the village, but for the life of him, he couldn't get the boy to even look at him. Sitting down, he looked at the boy that he had come to think of as a son and silently put a soft white tail down on him, trying to give the boy as much comfort as he could. Closing his eyes, Kyubbi used his experience of dealing with Naruto's body to see what Naruto saw and for the first time in his life, Kyubbi felt pity. He didn't pity himself, he pitied the small frightened and lonely boy that lay before him. Looking skyward, Kyubbi offered a silent prayer to Kami, "Please Oh Kami, let this boy live and Let go. He never should have experienced these things. This was my fault. I will do anything, but do not punish this poor child anymore.

In Konoha…

Each of the Rookie nine and their teachers had returned to the village and went home. They all lay awake and thought about the events that had happened this day. If there was one unifying thought that each thought it was 'I'm sorry, Naruto. Please come back'. With that said, each prayed and fell into an uneasy slumber. Each remembering the good and bad times that they had with there Favorite, Knuckle-headed Ninja, Uzumaki Naruto.

A/N: Well another chapter done! Sorry for the VERY long wait…I was grounded HEHEHE. Anyways, Thanks for reading and I hope you wil continue to do so and enjoy my writing, again Thank You. Please Read and Review as this is the only way for me to gauge my progress with my readers and for my to fix things, and just because I like to see the little review notices in my email. :) Ja Ne!


	3. Spring Returns

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Naruto © ™ characters. I do own all other original Characters.

A/N: Thank you for continuing to read this fic. Don't forget to Read & Review, as it is the only way for me to fix things you don't like or keep doing the things you do...and because it makes me feel happy inside…. Ja Ne.

Things to know…

See Authors notes at end of chapter

**Bold** Kyubbified-Naruto speech

**_Bold Italics_** Kyubbi speech

Italics Thoughts/ flashbacks 

() Technique translation

Flashback sequence flashback

POV P.oint O.f V.iew

Chapter 3:

**Spring Returns**

Spring had returned to Konoha in all its glory, and with it came many changes. It had been five years since the disappearance of the Kyubbi container, and the village had become much quieter since. There was no loud yells of excitement or the furious echoes of denials, just the smothering sound of silence. The Rookie nine had continued with their respective training and all had made it to the level of Chunnin, and by doing so they were some of the youngest to do so. Sakura, who had taken her training with Tsunade seriously before had taken at it even more vigorously after **he** left. Sasuke, who had at one time been sonly concerned with the destruction of his brother, which had caused him to push everyone way, was now someone that you could readily approach, although he still seemed to retain some of his old personality. Hinata, who after she had made the rank of Chunnin, had forced the clans' counsel to give her a leave of absence so that she may continue her own goals. Chouji, who was still as fat as ever, had mastered all of his families techniques and was in the process of experimenting and creating new ones to improve his clans standing. Shika, who hadn't changed at all…meaning still just as lazy as before, he just got paid more to do it, was now a Special Jounin who was an expert in tactical planning. Ino, having discovered that she had a talent to messing with people's head, took up training with the best Genjutsu user in the country, Kurenai. It continued in this matter for all the nine and seemed to occupy them just fine, as for the teachers, they to continued their duties, all the while listening for even a whisper of a blonde haired, bewhiskered boy. Kakashi, using his new gift of controlling his Sharingan eye, trained in its use until he could activate it at the slightest twitch and revert it just as quickly. Asuma continued to almost as lazy as Shika, although he did take up training with a new weapon, a staff. As for the Hokage, she seemed to have to remained untouched by time meaning she like sake just as much as she always had, and could still knock a man through a door and four walls with a single punch when she **wasn't** mad.

Team 7 or rather Kakashi and Sakura, were currently on a diplomatic mission to the Ice country on the anniversary of our friends departure. They had just reached the ninja village that was situated in the base of a large rift in the mountains when they were intercepted by a patrol of ice ninjas. Explaining their mission, they quickly fell into step with the patrol who escorted them right the gates of the village. Using one of the gate guards they followed him to the Kage's office and were told to go right in by the secretary. Opening the door, they jerked to a halt when they saw another man in the room sitting in one of the room two chairs. The Kage inclined his head at their entrance and waved them in before returning his attention to the person seated in front of him.

Sakura, curious to a fault inspected the man as much as she could from her position and new that Kakashi was doing the same. He seemed to be about 5" 9' and around 180 lbs. Other then those simple guesses she couldn't discern anything else. Returning her attention to the room, she listened at the conversion, while trying to look like she wasn't.

"We have made good progress on the western slope, but the slope is getting more dangerous as we go. If we continue to push any farther we may cause an avalanche and that would be bad for all involved.", the man said in a clipped voice. Nodding his head, the Ice Kage replied, "Ask Hitomi to shore up what they can and then cease work on the project. We have more important things to do." Nodding his head the man stood and revealed himself fully to the Leaf Nins. He had black facial hair and a strong physique, not a muscle bound one, but one that said he could lift his share of weight. Looking the two Leaf Ninjas over, he extended his hand to Kakashi and said quite congenially, "Welcome to the world's icebox. I'm Darik, Head Jounin of this village."

Amazed by the man's forthrightness, Kakashi extended his hand and said with the same amount of generosity, "I'm Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-Nin of Konoha, and this is my teammate and student, Hurano Sakura." Bowing to the foreign Nin, Sakura shook his pro-offered hand and silently waited while Kakashi made some more small talk.

Excusing himself and agreeing to the other ninja suggestion of a dinner with the ice nin and his team, Kakashi returned to the mission at hand and bowed to the leader of the Ice country and waited for Sakura to do the same before taking the other man's offer of a seat. "I have to say Sir, you have a most beautiful country.", Kakashi said seriously, completely sincere in his compliment. Smiling knowingly, the Ice Kage replied, "Yes, it's a wonder that more people don't live here, but that is not the reason for your visit, I'm sure. Call me, Takashi, by the way, I really don't like the formal greetings all that much. So, tell me, why have you come such a long distance?"

Clearing his throat, Kakashi explained the Fire country's need. "At the moment, we are on the verge of an all out war with the Rock, Sound, and rogue elements of the Sand village. We traveled here, now, to ask for your aid in our time of need. My Hokage would like to point out the fact that we have always been peaceful with each other and would like to site that as an example of the bond that she is sure could grow to something much more.", he said with no extra theatrics or dramatization. Bowing his head, the Ice Kage leaned back in his chair and seemed to become lost in thought. Kakashi took that as a good sign and sat back against the leather of his chair. Time passed while they waited for the Kage's answer, and after a while Sakura began to think that the Ice Kage had forgotten them when he spoke up. "This is not a decision that I alone can make. I will consult with the clan leaders of the village and give my answer tomorrow morn. For the time being you may stay here in the guest rooms. A guard will show you to them." Nodding their heads in understanding, Kakashi and Sakura left the room and waited while the Kage gave the necessary orders before following the guard to the rooms. Remembering the other Ninja's offer, he asked the guard where he might find the place that Darik had mentioned, before leaving the building.

They roamed the streets and looked at all the different sights that they could before dusk settled over the valley. They followed the guard's direction and soon found themselves before a well light restaurant that seemed to being teeming with business. Asking the waitress for Darik, they went to the table she indicated and were greeted warmly by the man when they reached the entrance to his part of the restaurant. Turning to the rest of the areas occupants he went around the table with introductions, but stopped when he saw of the people seated there stand and leave the enclosure. A puzzled look crossed his features, but vanished almost before it was born. Kakashi and Sakura's interest raging full force now… they both wanted to know whom that man was. After eating and sharing small talk and information about the daily going-ons in Konoha, Kakashi popped the question, "Excuse me Darik, but I would like to know who the man that left earlier was.", he said with as much etiquette as he could. The gently hubbub that had been humming around the table immediately ceased. Darik's face seemed to grow more guarded. He replied in a monotone, "He is a member of my team. He goes by the name Gale, although no one knows why. A team coming back from a mission had found him lying in the snow about a mile from here around five years ago. He is very intelligent, but is very secretive, I mean it took about a year for him to even do a simple dinner with us. He also never removes his mask."

Kakashi's instincts had kicked into overdrive at the mention of the man being found in the snow FIVE years ago. Unknown to him a similar thought was going through Sakura's mind also, 'Could it be? Could it really be **him**?' Looking at each other, they both looked back to Darik and asked the only question they could think of, "Do you know who found him, and if so do you know where we can find that person?"

Darik hesitated, for some reason he couldn't figure out why this foreign ninjas were so interested in one of his teammates. "Yes, I do know who found him and where he is, but my question to you is, Why? Why do you want to know? Why do you even care?", he stated as carefully as he could. Kakashi, who noticed the sudden tension in the room, looked at Sakura and saw the pleading look he knew that would be there. Turning back to Darik he said, "I want to know because one of my teammates ran away from my village 5 years ago, today. I want to know because I want to find him so that I can tell him how much everyone misses him. I want to know so that **I** can have piece of mind.", he put as much conviction as he could into those words and thought about just how true those words really were. He watch Darik's face for any signs of trouble, but was relieved when he saw that Darik had relaxed now seemed to be even more at easy then when they had started dinner. Clearing his throat, Darik said with a bemused smile on his face, "**I** am the one that found him, and you already know where I am." Kakashi's face twitched at this and Sakura's brain just seemed to have frozen, because not a sound was heard from them for over a minute. "Then may I ask you some questions? Some questions about that man?", Sakura replied when she got her voice back. Nodding his head, Darik waited for the quiz to start.

Sakura raked her brain for some of the most outstanding details of Naruto that she could remember, and the first one she thought of was his jumpsuit. "Do you remember what type of clothes he wore and what color they were?", she asked with hope filling her voice. "I do, he wore just enough clothes to call what he wore rags, and as far as I could see they had used to be brown, or maybe that was just all the dirt and grim that had caked them.", Darik said as the memories came back. Sakura's face fell at this, the clothes didn't help. Kakashi asked the next question, "What color hair and eyes did he have?", he asked waiting to see if he would get a more likeable answer then the last. "He has either red hair with small blonde streaks or he has blonde hair with small red streaks. I don't know which it is; I can't remember which it was. He also has blue or green eyes, again, I don't remember all that well.", Darik replied immediately as the memories cleared more. Sakura asked the one question that she felt would decide the whole thing, "Did he have any distinguishing marks on his face?" It took Darik a few moments to think about this one, but eventually his answer was a negative. Both Sakura and Kakashi's spirits plummeted with the last answer and with heavy faces they excused themselves and returned to their rooms.

The Next Day…

A messenger had come early to Leaf Nin's rooms, with word from the Ice Kage that he wished to speak with them. Retracing their steps from the previous night they walked back into the Kage's office and once again took the offered seats. The Ice Kage, who had been looking upon the city from his window, turned and bit off any words that were about to come out. He saw the leaf Nin's faces and was deeply disturbed that they had found their stay in the village so horrible. "Excuse me, but I can see that something is troubling you. If something happened then I need to know so that I can fix it.", he said in a kind voice, his face solemn. "Nothing has happened, Sir. We just mistook something for something that it was not. Do not let this worry you, so please go on. I am anxious to return to my village with your wise decision.", Sakura, who was the more highly trained in the art of words, said with as happy a voice as she could muster. Takashi (the Ice Kage), let her reply go, but didn't put it aside. "We, that is the Clan Leaders and I, have reached a decision concerning your request.", he said in a grave voice. Immediately both Kakashi and Sakura stood up and put their faces in unreadable masks. "What decision would that be, Sir?", Kakashi replied in the same grave tone. "We have decided…to accept your Kage's plea. Tomorrow you will leave this village accompanied by Darik and his team and one of our Elite ANBU teams. They will place themselves under your Kage's command upon reaching the village.", he said in a much lighter tone. He watched as the leaf Nin's faces changed with relief. Bowing to Takashi, they both thanked him then exited the room. They spent the rest of the day, in the city and with Darik and his team so that they could familiarize themselves with each other. As dusk turned to night, the ANBU team leader appeared and said that his team would meet the rest of them at the main gate, before disappearing again. Laying down they both slipped into a restless sleep, each dreaming of a blonde haired ninja.

Dawn the next morning…

Darik and his team along with the ANBU met Kakashi and Sakura at the gate the next morning. As they left through the gates, they looked back and saw the Ice Kage watching their departure. Bowing in his direction, they continued on their way. They marched through the snow, barely pausing for breaks. At night, they set a watch and got what rest they could in the icy landscape. This routine continued for three days before anything of interest happened. They were crossing the one open area that stood before the mountains when they ran into three Chunnin class nuke-nin. The battle was short but it provided a vital bond of trust between the different teams. What struck Kakashi as odd though was one of the ANBU seemed to be avoiding everyone. Now Kakashi had been ANBU and he knew quite a bit about their personality quirks but for some reason this particular one didn't feel right. He decided that it was time that he asked Darik or even the ANBU team leader.

He crunched through the snow and saw Darik talking to one of his teammates in his tent. Kakashi waited for them to leave before approaching the other Jounin. "Hey Darik.", he greeted as he brushed off the lightly falling snow off his shoulders. "Good evening, Kakashi. What brings you over here?", he returned. "A question. One of the ANBU that are with us seems to be avoiding everyone.", he stated watching Darik for a reaction. Puzzled, Darik thought about their trip so far and as far as he could remember all the ANBU seemed to acting normal…or rather as normal as ANBU get. He frowned up to Kakashi and asked, "Which one would that be, because I haven't noticed any odd behavior." It was Kakashi's turn to frown at a question. "Are you saying that he is just avoiding me? If so then I would have to say not. My student also noticed his behavior. " Darik raised an eyebrow at that. "You mean to say he is avoiding both of you?", he queried. "Yes, and if its not to much trouble I would like to know why.", Kakashi stated matter-of-factly. "So would I, my friend, so would I"

They both left his tent and crunched over to where the ANBU captain was meditating. Clearing his throat Darik waited for the captain to notice him before starting a conversation. (A/N: Now remember ANBU wear full-face masks… The captain is in a meditating position and that is how they know that he is meditating.) Swinging his head in the two Jounins direction, the ANBU seemed to wait for them to start talking. Kakashi, who thought that someone would better handle this from the same country, let Darik handle the questions. "Sorry to disturb you, but my friend here has noticed that one of you team seems to be avoiding him…and just him.", Darik said as plainly and openly as he could. The muffled reply came back barely loud enough to hear, "Who would that be?", he asked while seeming to look right at Kakashi. "It's the black masked one, I believe it was a fox or a dog of some kind.", he said. Nodding his head, the captain stood and made a sharp piercing whistle that seemed to change in pitch, and sudden with a small gust of wind, there stood the dog masked ANBU himself. Looking over at Kakashi, the man seemed to flinch back, before looking at his captain. The captain motioned to the other ANBU and walked away from the group to talk to the other in peace. Kakashi let me, knowing that it would just cause trouble to try and overhear what was said. Time dragged by and eventually Kakashi crouched down to relieve his thighs from the constant pressure of standing up. Just as he did and Kunai came whizzing out of the nowhere and almost pierced his head except for the hand that now gripped the handle of it. Looking up, he saw that it was none other the dog masked ninja that had just saved his life. Moving with amazing speed, the ninja also blocked several other kunai that came flying in from the darkness. Turning around, the man dropped into a crouch and was just missed by another barrage kunai. Flipping the knives that he had caught around, he threw them in a shotgun blast pattern back out into the darkness before leaping up and running after them. Kakashi watched all this with no small amount of detachment. He was amazed by the fact that someone could have blocked all of those without taking a scratch. He jumped to his feet and rushed over to the fire and put it out. He didn't want to give their attackers anymore advantage then they already had. He ducked as more kunai cut through the air by his head. He activated his Sharingan and used it to see from where they came. When he followed the trail, he saw that the masked ANBU was being overrun. Pulling out some shuriken, he threw them into the midst of the other ninja's attackers. Reaching the other Nin's side, he saw that his mask had been cracked and was only still on because of how well it was made. He nodded to him before taking a position at the ANBU's back. Together they fought back the attackers and even managed to scatter them. As that group of enemies left another rose in its place on the other side of their camp. They rushed to reach it and just as they passed into the center of camp and enormous barrage of stars spun from the darkness…directly toward the unprepared Sakura. With a leap the dog-masked ninja landed in front of the girl and wrapped her in a bear hug just before the stars hit. They pounded into his back and repeatedly slammed him into Sakura. As the last of the stars either passed or hit, the ANBU warrior looked down at the girl in his arms and then fell, landing on his side and coughing up large amounts of his life fluid. Sakura, as shaken as she was, saw the amount of blood now melting the snow and immediately switched modes so that she could use her medical training to help her savior. She crouched next to the man and started removing the stars, constantly aware of the man's breathing rhythm. She took out a bandage and put as much put as much charka as she dared into it She was maneuvering it into place when suddenly he grabbed her hand and slowly got to his knees, despite her best efforts to keep him on the ground and flat.

"What are you doing?!", she exclaimed nearly hysterical, her face completely overrun with anxiety, at what the man was doing, her. The man, as if not even hearing her words, started getting to his feet. Kakashi started toward the pair to stop the man's efforts, before he got any worse, but was stopped by the Captain with a hand on his shoulder. At the shake of the Captain's head, he stopped and returned his attention to the battle at hand. He looked around himself and saw that the battle was pretty much over, he just wished that they hadn't lost anyone. Looking behind, he saw Darik approaching and nodded to him. Darik replied with a jerk of his own toward the direction of the Leaf Nin's apprentice and the ANBU. He watched as the man slowly made his way toward the tree line, just before he would have reached it, the man fell face first and didn't move. Immediately Kakashi, Darik, Sakura and the Captain rushed over to him, but all save the Captain and Darik, jerked to a halt at the face that was now barred from beneath the split dog mask.

With a small cry, Sakura dropped to her knees beside him and pulled him toward her. "W-Why now? Why like this?", she silently whispered to herself as she cradled the bewhiskered man's head in her lap. Kakashi was at a loss for words, his hopes had come true, but in the worst way possible. Slowly, he reached out and touched the blonde-haired man's face. Dropping to his knees, he held the mans hand and whispered in a sad yet joyful voice, "I'm so sorry, so sorry…Naruto."

A/N: Hello again…Thank you for continuing to read my fic. Please write a review…there the only thing that keep me going…Also, I would ask a favor….Please spread the word about this fic…I really need a bigger base…that way I can please more people at once…TEHEHEHEHEHE….(gives the shifty eyes… "PEVERT!!!"…)… Thanks again…Ja Ne!


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